Speech at the Congress of the Social-Democratic Party of Switzerland, November 4, 1916[1]

Published:First published in Russian in 1924 in the magazineProletarskaya RevolutsiaNo. 4 (27).

      Published in 1916 inProtokoll über die Verhandlungen des Parteitages der Sozialdemokratischen Partei der Schweiz vom 4 und 5. November 1916 abgehalten im Gesellschaftshaus “z. Kaufleuten” in Zürich.

      Translated from the German.

      Published according to the book text.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1964,

      Moscow,Volume 23,

      pages121-124.Translated:M. S. Levin, The Late Joe Fineberg and and OthersTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      2002

      (2005).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

TheSocial-Democratic Party of Switzerland recently had the
honour of rousing the ire of the leader of the official Danish
Social-Democratic Party, Herr Minister Stauning. In a letter to another
quasi-socialist Minister, Vandervelde, dated September 15 of this year,
Stauning proudly declared that “we [the Danish party] have sharply and
definitely disassociated ourselves from the organisationally pernicious
splitting activities conducted on the initiative of the Italian and Swiss
parties under the name of the Zimmerwald movement”.

Ingreeting the Congress of the Social-Democratic Party of Switzerland
on behalf of the Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour
Party, I do so in the hope that this party will continue to support the
effort to unite the revolutionary Social-Democrats internationally, which
began at Zimmerwald and which must end in a complete rupture between
socialism and its ministerial and social-patriotic betrayers.

Thissplit is maturing in all countries of developed capitalism. In
Germany, Karl Liebknecht’s colleague, Comrade Otto Rühle, was attacked by
the opportunists and by the so-called Centre when he declared in the
Central Organ of the German party that the split had become inevitable
(Vorwärts, January 12, 1916). The facts, however, make it
increasingly clear that Comrade Rühle was right,that in reality there are two parties in Germany, one helping the
bourgeoisie and the government wage the predatory war, the other, which for
the most part is working illegally, spreading really socialist manifestos
among the real masses and organising mass demonstrations and political
strikes.

InFrance, the Committee for the Re-establishment of International
Contacts[2]recently published a pamphlet,The Zimmerwald Socialists
and the War, in which we read that three main trends have developed
within the French party. The first, comprising the majority and branded in
the pamphlet as socialist-nationalists, social-patriots, has entered into a
“holy alliance” with our class enemies. The second, according to the
pamphlet, represents a minority and consists of followers of Members of
Parliament Longuet and Pressemane, who on key issues go hand in hand with
the majority and unconsciously bring grist to the mill of the majority by
attracting the discontented elements, lulling their socialist conscience
and inducing them to follow the party’s official policy. The third trend,
the pamphlet says, are the Zimmerwaldists. They maintain that France was
involved in the war not because Germany declared war on her, but because
she pursued an imperialist policy which, through treaties and loans, bound
her to Russia. This third trend unambiguously pro claims that “defence
of the fatherland is not a socialist cause”.

Practicallythe same three trends have arisen in Russia, as well as in
England and in the neutral United States of America—in fact, all over the
world. The struggle of these trends will determine the course of the labour
movement in the immediate future.

Permitme to say a few words on another point which is being very much
discussed these days and on which we Russian Social-Democrats are
particularly rich in experience, namely, the question of terrorism.

Wehave no information yet about the Austrian revolutionary
Social-Democrats. We know that there are revolutionary Social-Democrats in
Austria, but information about them is very meagre anyway. Consequently, we
do not know whether the assassination of Stürgkh by Comrade FritzAdler[3]was the application of terrorism as tactics, i.e., systematic
organisation of political assassinations unconnected with the mass
revolutionarystruggle;orwhether it was a single
act in the transition from the opportunist, non-socialist defence of the
fatherland tactics of the official Austrian Social-Democrats to the tactics
of revolutionary mass struggle. The latter assumption seems to fit in more
with the circumstances. The message of greeting to Fritz Adler proposed by
the Central Committee of the Italian party and published inAvanti!of October 29, therefore, deserves the fullest sympathy.

Atall events, we are convinced that the experience of revolution and
counter-revolution in Russia has proved the correctness of our Party’s more
than twenty-year struggle against terrorism as tactics. We must not forget,
however, that this struggle was closely connected with a ruthless struggle
against opportunism, which was inclined to repudiate the use of all
violence by the oppressed classes against their oppressors. We have always
stood for the use of violence in the mass struggle and in connection with
it. Secondly, we linked the struggle against terrorism with many years of
propaganda, started long before December 1905, for an armed uprising. We
have regarded the armed uprising not only as the best means by which the
proletariat can retaliate to the government’s policy, but also as the
inevitable result of the development of the class struggle for socialism
and democracy. Thirdly, we have not confined ourselves to accepting
violence in principle and to propaganda for armed uprising. For example,
four years before the revolution we supported the use of violence by the
masses against their oppressors, particularly in street demonstrations. We
sought to bring to the whole country the lesson taught by every such
demonstration. We began to devote more and more attention to organising
sustained and systematic mass resistance against the police and the army,
to winning over, through this resistance, as large as possible a part of
the army to the side of the proletariat in its struggle against the
government, to inducing the peasantry and the army to take a conscious part
in this struggle. These are the tactics we have applied in the struggle
against terrorism, andit is our firm conviction that they have proved successful.

Iconclude, comrades, by once again greeting the Congress of the
Social-Democratic Party of Switzerland and by wishing you success in your
work (applause).

[1]TheSwiss Social-Democratic Party Congressin Zurich, November
4--5, 1946, discussed the work of the Social-Democratic group in the
National Council, the financial reform, attitude on the Kienthal
resolutions and the Grütli-Verein, revision of the party constitution.

Leninattended all the sessions, and addressed the opening session on
behalf of the R.S.D.L.P. Central Committee. His speech, delivered in
German, was followed with close attention. There was a sharp struggle
between the diverse trends in the party on practically every agenda item.

Apositive feature of the Congress,in Lenin’s view, was the vigorous
fight the Left waged against the Right and Centre. The resolution on the
Social-Democratic group in the National Council urged it to set an example
of struggle for working-class interests and insisted that it be guided in
all its activities by party decisions. The resolution on the financial
reform, tabled by Grimm and Huber, approved direct taxation and allowed for
indirect taxes on tobacco, alcoholic beverages, stamp duty, etc. Two
resolutions were submitted on the attitude towards Kienthal one by the
party Executive and the other by the Left wing; the question was referred
to an emergency congress. On the Grütli-Verein—an affiliated
organisation enjoying special status, which took an extreme chauvinist
stand in the war—the Congress declared membership in it to be
incompatible with membership in the party. Revision of the party
constitution was referred to an emergency congress.

TheZurich Congress, Lenin wrote, “definitely proved that the decision
to join Zimmerwald and acceptrevolutionary mass struggle(resolution of the 1915 Aarau Congress) remains on paper, and that within
the party there has been definitely formed a ‘Centre’....This ‘Centre’, of which R. Grimm has become the head, combines ‘Left’
declarations with ‘Right’, i.e., opportunist, tactics” (see p. 137 of this
volume).

[2]TheCommittee for the Re-establishment of International Contactswas formed in Paris in January 1916 by French internationalists. This was
the first attempt to set up in France a revolutionary socialist
organisation as a counterweight to the official social-chauvinist
organisations. The Committee conducted propaganda against the imperialist
war, published a number of pamphlets and leaflets, exposing the predatory
aims of the imperialists and the social-chauvinists’ betrayal of the
working class. It did not, however, appreciate the need for a decisive
break with the opportunists, and had no clear-cut and consistent programme
of revolutionary struggle. Nevertheless Lenin regarded the Committee as a
factor in rallying the internationalist forces in France and in extending
the Left Zimmerwaldist influence. Inessa Armand participated in the
Committee on Lenin’s instructions.

Underthe influence of the October Revolution in Russia and the growth
of the French labour movement, the Committee became the centre of the
revolutionary internationalist forces in France, and in 1920 merged with
the Communist Party.

[3]Theallusion is to the assassination of Austrian Prime Minister Stürgkh
by Friedrich Adler, the Austrian Social-Democratic leader.